As from today I’m not flying on SAA anymore .. instead I’ll be supporting the honourable alternatives .. this abuse has to come to an end!

The head of FNB has a good point, but is Celliers being a bit celly? Certainly, if SAA were in the rail business, they would be a train wreck. Corruption at Board level, unpleasant flying experiences, and an ability to burn cash at the speed of sound. Airline fractures all over the place.

Few South African can be happy about the current state of affairs – and I, for one, would celebrate the privatisation or closure of SAA. This is a jumbo airline disaster and a national disgrace.

However, Celliers works for a banking group which has come off badly in previous skirmishes with government.

In 2017, Paul Harris, who then headed FNB’s parent group RMB, got into hot water with government over an anti-crime advertising campaign which appeared to attack government.

In January 2013, Celliers’ predecessor Michael Jordaan was in trouble over a YouTube campaign featuring children, some of whom were critical of government.

So there are worrying precedents for the current FNB boss to fret about. Government has massive economic clout, and if it wants to punish FNB it certainly has the ability to do so.

However, there has been a recent tendency for business to be more critical of government, and of state-owned parasitals like SAA.

So maybe Celliers will get away with it?”

He certainly has my support.

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I have only once had Thai food in Thailand. I was in transit at Bangkok airport and dined in the restaurant there. Absolutely magnificent stuff, which delighted my palate and disrupted my digestive system. I then had a long flight back to Europe, in a window seat. My neighbours got little sleep that night as I clambered over them several times to dash to the recycling facilities.

At its best, Thai food can be fragrant, full-of-flavour and well-spiced. I have eaten very spicy dishes, which may well be more authentic than the toned-down stuff I prefer these days, but I tend to go easy on the chili after that meal at the airport.

There may be better Thai restaurants in Pretoria than Padbok, but I have yet to discover one, and while Padbok is a rather strange place, I do love going there.

It is a vast restaurant with very little atmosphere and clumsy service. However, the food is excellent. The kitchen opens on to the restaurant, and the chefs clearly know what they are doing, as the food is cooked and served briskly.

Three of us went along for lunch, and had a varied and enjoyable meal, ordering enough for some doggie bags to be required.

My favourite starter dish was the beef salad, which had excellent flavour, a nice mix of meat and salad ingredients, although the beef was a bit fatty. We shared a generous portion of chicken satays, which I found a bit dry and slightly underwhelming, but the others enjoyed them. The prawn spring rolls were tasty, but there was a lot more pastry than prawn, which was a shame.

For mains, I went straight for the Chicken Panang Curry, an exquisite balance of flavours, which went well with the plain steamed rice. The stir-fried beef with chili and basil contained more green beans than beef, and was a bit too spicy for me. I was outvoted on that one. I loved the stir-fried sweet and sour chicken, even though it was initially a bit dry – as the meat rested on the sauce, which had not been well mixed-in, to coat the battered chicken. The fried prawns in tamarind sauce, topped with crispy garlic and shallot, was excellent – as was the Pad Thai dish of noodles with prawns.

There was no room for dessert. We shared a bottle of sparkling water and a Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2015m, which was quite wooded and went well with the food.

The restaurant also has quite a range of sushi, which I did not try. I prefer cooked food.

Although we had ordered five main dishes, only four initially arrived, and I had to prompt the waitress to find the other one. There is a reasonable wine list, but they tend to run out of stock, and one wonders at this lack of attention to detail.

With tip, the bill came to R850.

Would I go back? I do a lot. It has its faults, but the food, in general, is very good.

Rating: I give it a 4*

Key to the Ratings….

1* Dog food is nicer

2*. Cat food is nicer

3*. Not bad if Woolworths is sold out of ready meals.

4*. I like it

5*. I love it. Not to be missed.

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Many years ago when politicians were admired and the earth was flat, barbers would ask their male customers if they wanted “anything for the weekend”? A discreet way of checking whether they needed a pack of condoms.

Toyota, whose products have even more safety features than most condoms, has also been thinking how to make the weekends different, special, fun.

At a seminar this week on the State of the Motor Industry, Toyota’s financial services head Marius Burger looked ahead to a time when people won’t own a car, but will have the use of several.

As well as financing plans which cover the use of a car, to be returned or paid-off at the end of a servicing period, he is looking at a even more flexible product.

“People will pay for a transport solution rather than a vehicle,” he suggested. “We may offer a platform with more than one vehicle.”

It appears to work through the driver buying a number of points each month, and being able to trade them for the use of a choice of different vehicles, as required.

You could opt for a runaround for the week, and a 4×4 for the bush for the weekend.

You could hire something sexy and sleek to take the mistress out for dinner, and something more modest to drive the wife to the shops.

There would of course have to be all sorts of infrastructure for the pick-up and drop-off of vehicles, but that is not beyond the wit of man. Or woman. Not too dissimilar schemes with bikes in London already run effectively.

Over half of people who want to purchase a car have their financing application rejected, which is one reason why Toyota, with presumably all the other auto firms, is looking at ways to open the market for more people. Burger believes there are huge opportunity to grow the market through these sort of innovative products which look at use, not ownership.

And just imagine the disruptive effects – and the new opportunities for Uber, for the car hire firms…..

For a long time there have been businesses which can hire you a TV, a computer, a companion, for an hour, a day, a week….. Why not have permanent, yet temporary use of a car?

You may never own a car again. But, then, you won’t need to.

Tweet of the Day

@CharlesMBlow: Say what you want about Obama, but I never once worried about a damned nuclear war…

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The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the state’s financing arm for industrial development, has abandoned its five-year target to hand out R100bn by 2020.
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, whose department baby-sits the IDC, noted that in the year to March, R15.3bn in funding was approved, with R11.0bn disbursed. He said this funding unlocked total investment of R47bn.
The Minister admitted the initial target won’t be met, but said that while the five-year target had been “helpful” he complained that “internal capacity just wasn’t there.”
And he said that there is now a “rolling” five-year target, with the aim of beginning to boost total funding to over R100bn in a later five-year period.
Meanwhile, the IDC, which has been presenting its annual results to March, announced it has supported 83 Black Industrialists, to the tune of R4.7bn.
One of the IDC’s largest projects has been support for the BAIC Chinese automotive firm, which is setting up an assembly plant at Coega, near Port Elizabeth.
IDC CEO Geoffrey Qhena said that the project had fallen behind by five months because “we were not happy with all procurement issues.
“It is proceeding now, and the plant should be ready by June next year.”
Patel announced that the IDC board has decided that none of its non-executive directors can do business with the Corporation in their private capacity, even if they recuse themselves from discussions, but he denied that this followed the discovery of any wrongdoing.
Finally, the IDC confirmed that one reason why its recent funding of projects has fallen short of expectations has been the attitude of state power utility Eskom, which has refused to sign up to take power from renewables schemes which had won IDC backing.

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There has been little reason to love our service providers in recent years. Surveys have shown that we are using less airtime and a lot more data, and our charges are very high by international standards. If data were ludicrously cheap, as opposed to ludicrously overpriced, it is a fair bet that business communications and home entertainment in South Africa would be a lot more impressive.
I have complained in the past about the expiry of airtime and data. You buy the stuff and have a month to use it. You don’t use; you lose. Completely. It vanishes, never to be seen again. A rip off? You bet.
On Friday, I was made aware of another – more subtle – rip off. Telkom hosted the media in one of Johannesburg’s least glamourous venues to tell us about their new uncapped data packages.
The Telkom geek who hosted us described this promotion as a game changer, and I am sure it will be for many people.
Depending on how much you pay, you can choose a speed and stream away uncapped. Or not.
However, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And it is.
The catch is that you get the data to stream at the speed for which you have paid UNTIL Telkom decides you have breached your “fair use” limit. Then the brakes come on, and it slows down.
I am happy to be believe assurances that for most users, this unfair fair usage policy will not be triggered.
But the fact it is exists suggests yet another underhand way of selling something and then neglecting to fully deliver.
Shame on you, Telkom. Shame.Hospitality
The wine at the function was good, but the venue was a sad and drab place. I had one bite of the cold, solid chicken and left. The lunch catering put a big cap on my normally uncapped appetite. The Woolies sandwich on the way home was much nicer.ZA Confidential is a subscription newsletter. To join the elite, to invite us to events with edible food and drinkable wine, for sponsorship discussions or any other communication, please contact: zaconfidential@gmail.com Follow us on twitter: @zaconfidential

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I am firmly of the belief that it is more important to have good food than to be subjected to a pretentious and overpriced experience. Give me foams and smears of stuff on the plate, and I will frown. Give me honest, well-cooked, food and I will beam with delight.

Lupa Osteria in the Design Quarter in Fourways was an excellent choice when I met my mate Mr J for a business lunch. It’s a very clean, modern looking Italian, with an open kitchen and pizza ovens. It has a fairly standard menu of pizzas, pastas and more substantial dishes. There’s a pretty well- chosen wine list, with a few tempting bottles. The high mark-ups are not unusual for Jo’burg, and I was pleased to see a selection of wine by the glass.

There was a warmish welcome, but it was a cold day and every time the door was opened, an unpleasant draft came through the place.

We both started with ham and melon. The former was delicious and the portion generous, but the melon was a tad under-ripe.

For the main course, I opted for the Saltimbocca with parmesan chips. The dish was a bit too salty but nicely cooked. But the parmesan chips? Oh, dear. They were courgettes, not the expected potatoes, and were soggy rather than crisp. Big fail.

The other main was from the specials menu and was chicken breast with spinach. It was good.

We shared a bottle of Villiera Merlot, which was a good choice. And went well with the food.

And to finish, we shared a Tiramisu. It tasted good, but had a rather dense texture. And it was a rather mean portion.

With two coffees, the bill came to R703, before the tip.

There were some flaws in the food, but it was welcoming place, and I enjoyed my lunch.

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The Government is now more than halfway towards creating its initial target of 100 Black Industrialists (BIs) with Trade and Industry (dti) Minister Rob Davies announcing that 52 BIs have now been supported by his programme.

The dti is aiming for 100 by March next year, and is offering grant support in a one-stop offering alongside other government agencies which offer loan support.

Davies was in Rosebank to sign an agreement with FNB, under which the bank will use its website to supply information on state incentives – initially just the BI programme.

Said FNB’s Bobby Madhav, who is head of the trade finance department: “The manufacturing sector plays a critical role in the economy. The long-term goal is to enable a greater number of South Africans access to dti schemes, by making the information more accessible.”

This new FNB initiative follows on from an existing one, which assists companies which sign up for a business account to also register their business.

Said FNB executive Sanjeev Orie: “When businesses open an account, they will be able to integrate with all dti incentives. How do we make these programmes and incentives available to businesses? If you integrate FNB and the dti, the customer experience is through a single portal.”

He said the offering would not be limited to FNB customers, and Davies said he hoped other banks will soon offer similar assistance.

“At the moment we have approved 52 projects, with R4.5bn projected investment value, creating 9 000 jobs. We are open to other banks with similar kinds of partnerships. We must find ways to support the upgrading of (BI) players who can invest, create jobs and industrial capacity.”

Davies noted that banks have in the past funded too few businesses, with most of their focus on consumer credit.

“We need to see a significant turnaround in the way in which credit is extended in South Africa. The biggest credit in SA is for consumption. It is easier to borrow money to buy a car than to start a business,” he complained.

The Hosting

As always, I like to judge an event not just on its content, but also on the way it is hosted. They weren’t on the ball. I had to ask for the media pack, and then for the programme, and then for an electronic version of the material. When I asked the MC for his business card, he said wasn’t carrying them because this might have produced a bulge in his suit. Vanity over efficiency. On arrival, I tried to connect to wi-fi, and was told there were too many users already. Ironic then, that Rob Davies went on about the 4th Industrial Revolution. I think the Hyatt is still struggling with the 2nd one. Oh, and we were offered pens and paper-notepads. How 21st Century can you get?

The event was scheduled for 10, and when I arrived there was a plate of fruit and yogurt. I would say fresh fruit, but neither the green nor the yellow melon, nor the strawberry was ripe. The coffee was halfway between unpleasant and acceptable. I took tea. Hotels like the Hyatt should be a showcase for our finest fruit and veg. Not so. There was a basket of pastries, not one of which would have won its maker an entry into one of the many TV baking competitions. Five star, it wasn’t.

I heard from a colleague that the event started late because a pampered and inefficient SABC crew was running late. This is not the first time those of us with manners have fallen victim to the incestuous and fawning relationship between the SABC and government.

The hot breakfast was served after the signing, at 11.30. Yup, 11.30. There was cold bacon and stale toast, with quite pleasant egg. Sausages, mushrooms, steak and other stuff had been put on the plate.

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Many centuries ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a child, there was a TV show about the Wombles of Wimbledon, a bunch of rodents who lived in a burrow and spent their days processing trash. Not quite the image I would wish to attach to a pricey steak house. But what do I know?

Arriving for a Womblistic lunch at Wombles of Bryanston, there was a warm welcome to this vast area, opulently furnished in almost-tasteful African style (The restaurant, not me).

A sommelier came along and recommended a bottle of Vergelegen, and a very expensive bottle of Vergelegen. I did ask him directly if he was a sommelier, and he modestly replied he was “in charge of the drinks”. Possibly nobody gave him the proper title as they would then have had to pay him better. I chose the slightly cheaper Vergelegen Cab/Merlot 2012, and with my arm painfully twisted, I upgraded from a glass to a bottle. It was really nice.

I ordered some sparkling water which did not come in a commercial-looking bottle. When I queried the waiter, he said they take tap water and insert the gas. Is it free, then? Nope. Bloody expensive gas, if you ask me.

I was first to arrive and asked for some bread to match the three butters on the table. Nothing arrived. But then I saw them bring some to the next table. And then they served their starters. Still no bread for me. It did arrive more than 20 minutes after I requested it, with surprise from the waiter that I had been so spurned. I tried a mini-loaf with the garlic butter. It had a good garlic flavour but was otherwise badly under-seasoned. After I had eaten it, a chap in a white shirt came to apologise for the miscommunication. I said I quite understood, as they were so busy. (There were three of us in the section where I was seated.). Sarcastic me.

As my dining diva Mrs P (who was late) was paying, I was able to splash out, and not just on the water.

I went for an old-fashioned favourite, the duck liver pate, at R90. It was very good, if slightly under-seasoned, and the portion was so generous I was able to feed some to Mrs P, who had skipped her starter.

I then ordered a 260g fillet (as did my hostess), with mine coming with Béarnaise sauce. Chips were cheeky added at an extra R25. The waiter said there would be complementary veg, including fresh garden peas. When I asked whose garden they came from, he checked with the chef, who said McCain’s.

The steaks were very fine, but Mrs P ordered a medium and got medium-well while my medium-rare was medium. You would think that a steakhouse would have a better ability to cook steak to order, but maybe the chefs were distracted by their Wombling, sorting out the trash. My chips were well prepared and tasty, but Mrs P’s sweet potato chips were overdone.

HOWEVER. The Béarnaise sauce was a total disaster. There was a heavy taste of vinegar, none of tarragon, and the texture was so cloying that when I turned it upside down it stayed in the jug. I wanted to hold it upturned over my head, but Mrs P told me to behave. Had I wanted wallpaper paste with a nasty taste, I would have ordered it. They took it off the bill, but too late. My meal was ruined. I ate a few bites of steak, a few chips, and sulked.

Pud (just for me) was Crêpes Suzette – tasty enough, but sugar, rather than orange, was the dominant flavour in the sauce. The theatre came with the waiter pouring a puddle of flaming brandy over the dish. Not sure why he bothered, because all the brandy flavour appeared to have been cremated out of the final product. The ball of ice cream served with it thought it was an Arctic iceberg, and insisted on melting too fast.

The coffee was OK, and the bill case to just under R1 000, before the tip. It included R28 for that tap water with gas.

My rating? 3.5*

Key to the Ratings….

1* Dog food is nicer

2*. Cat food is nicer

3*. Not bad if Woolworths is sold out of ready meals.

4*. I like it

5*. I love it. Not to be missed.

ZA Confidential is a subscription newsletter. To join the elite, to invite us to events with edible food and drinkable wine, for sponsorship discussions or any other communication, please contact: zaconfidential@gmail.com

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One of the highlights of any trip outside town is that special meal with special friends. Mind you, the friends are optional. I have had some superb but solitary meals while travelling on my own, and need to search far and wide for company as excellent as my own.

However, when I was recently in Cape Town, I took the opportunity to dine out with two favourite foody friends, Mr and Mrs M.

They suggested a restaurant near my hotel, and so we ended up at A Tavola in Clarement.

It is a bustling, welcoming place, and was very busy on the Thursday evening we went. Having brushed aside the offer of some Italian mineral water, we went for the local stuff, as you don’t know how much longer you will find local water in CT.

In breach of every rule of restaurant reviewing, we all opted for the same starter – gnocchi with gorgonzola. They were all excellent. Super texture on the gnocchi, which appeared to have been home made, and a beautifully cheesy, but not too cheesy, sauce.

For mains, I had veal saltimbocca. The veal with ham and sage seemed to have been breaded and was covered with a dense tomato sauce, which overwhelmed the other flavours. The veal was way overcooked and the coating was crunchy. I am sure I could have done a far better job myself.

Mrs M had pasta ribbons with calamari and seemed to enjoy it, while Mr M had what I think was lasagne. He liked it, too.

He had an ice cream for pud, and pronounced it good. Mrs M and I shared a cheese platter. What a disgrace. Tiny chunks of waxy cheese, served in a part of South Africa where such superb cheeses are made. An awful end to a meal.

Service was OK but a little offhand.

We ordered two bottles of a 5* 2013 Cab Franc from Chamonix, and loved every drop. Mr M was the only one driving after the meal and behaved himself.

The bill, with tip, came to around R1 600, with tip, but would have been a thousand-ish without the wine.

Was it OK? Yes. Was it great/memorable/a must-visit? Nope.

Rating: I give it 3.5*

Key to the Ratings….

1* Dog food is nicer

2*. Cat food is nicer

3*. Not bad if Woolworths is sold out of ready meals.

4*. I like it

5*. I love it. Not to be missed.

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For quite a while, I had planned to write a piece defending the motorist – the King of the Road. You hear all those statistics of road deaths, and wonder whether it was really the chap behind the wheel who was responsible. Daily, I have to slow down, or hoot at jaywalkers, at people wandering along with more attention to their cellphones than to their lives.

And those cyclists. Damm, they are annoying. Expecting me to slow down, weave around them, and to show them consideration, when they leap on and off pavements, show no regard for traffic lights, ride the wrong way down the road. Fail to travel in single-file.

All this changed, though, with the death of Leon Baker. He was run over and killed earlier this month by a hit and run driver– most likely by a commuter taxi – while out on an early morning jog.

I had done some work on websites alongside Leon – he would provide the technical genius, me the bullshit. I liked him a lot. He tolerated my awful jokes about his obsession with running, always had time to explain complicated IT things time and time again. I never saw him stressed or angry.

He was a great person, a family man, much loved and respected in the jogging community, had built up his own business and did what he did very well.

And then on the morning of July 4th he went out for his morning run, and was never seen alive again.

I went to his memorial service, to learn that not only was he such a good bloke; he was a great bloke. And not only that, he loved his coffee and red wine. A man of superb taste, as well.

I still use my hooter a lot when driving, but I am little more thoughtful now. If I need to slow down or stop, I do so. I am more aware than ever of the vehicle as a killer machine, as it has killed someone for whom I cared. I speed less, drink less, stay more alert.

Can’t we all be a little more careful, less impatient with the runners and cyclists, more aware that we drivers do not own the roads?

There are some wonderful people who take risks just by going out on the road – for a jog, to walk the dog, to get to and from school, work or the shops.

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